I’m Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at LIU Post in New York. I’ve published several articles in professional journals and magazines, including Barron’s, The New York Times, Japan Times, Newsday, Plain Dealer, Edge Singapore, European Management Review, Management International Review, and Journal of Risk and Insurance. I’ve have also published several books, including Collective Entrepreneurship, The Ten Golden Rules, WOM and Buzz Marketing, Business Strategy in a Semiglobal Economy, China’s Challenge: Imitation or Innovation in International Business, and New Emerging Japanese Economy: Opportunity and Strategy for World Business. I’ve traveled extensively throughout the world giving lectures and seminars for private and government organizations, including Beijing Academy of Social Science, Nagoya University, Tokyo Science University, Keimung University, University of Adelaide, Saint Gallen University, Duisburg University, University of Edinburgh, and Athens University of Economics and Business. Interests: Global markets, business, investment strategy, personal success.

The Creative Power Of Eros

A representation from the 1500s of the Muses dancing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do everyday people rise from obscurity, achieving great things? What does it take? What was the driving power behind the ventures of famous explorers, inventors, and entrepreneurs that changed the course and concept of history? What was the driving power behind the masterpieces of art, poetry, philosophy and music?

Was it money?

Was it fame?

Was it talent?

As a rule, the answer is yes and no. Money could have been a strong motive behind the success of many great entrepreneurs and innovators, but it wasn’t the only cause–These special individuals continued their quest, even after they had amassed sufficient assets to live a comfortable life.

Fame, on the other hand, could have been a motive behind the lives of some artists, poets, and musicians, but still it wasn’t the motive either, as recognition, for most of the great talents came after life. And again talent certainly played an important role for great artists, poets, entrepreneurs in achieving success, and so on, but still it wasn’t sufficient. Then what was it?

The creative power of Eros or Love, the passion for the good and the beautiful, the new and the exotic, the perfect and the immortal.

This discovery isn’t new. It can be traced back to the ancient wisdom, in the works of classical Greeks and most notably in Plato’s manual of Eros—The Symposium. Plato defines Eros as a “good composer” of every living thing, every work of art, every idea, “because you cannot give someone else what you don’t have or teach someone what you don’t know yourself.” The creative power of Eros is in Apollo’s music magic, the Muses’ erotic dance, Haifestus’ solid metallurgy, Zeus bold Hegemony, Fidias’ elegant sculpture; Eros exists in Plato’s and Aristotle’s philosophy; behind Homer’s poetry, Chopin’s compositions Gauguin’s exotic paintings; behind each and every venture and exploration that spun the world around its axis, each and every discovery that gave humanity a new aspect.

Eros is the “mighty” and “total power” in pursuing good deeds that fosters good relations. “So Love (Eros) has great and mighty-or rather total-power. But it is the Love whose nature is expressed in good actions, marked by self-control and justice, at the human and divine level that has the greatest power and is the source of all our happiness. It enables us to associate, and be friends, with each other and with the gods, our superiors.”

The bottom line: To achieve great things, you must posses the creative power of Eros, the passion for the good and beautiful the new and the exotic, the perfect and the immortal, the source of all our happiness.

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